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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25807825">The Man We Knew</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/leo_probably/pseuds/leo_probably'>leo_probably</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:15:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>937</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25807825</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/leo_probably/pseuds/leo_probably</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I feel myself drifting off, floating through the air like a rustling leaf, and you, Naruto, will be the last thing on my mind. </p><p>The last breath of Uchiha Sasuke.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Uchiha Sasuke &amp; Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Man We Knew</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>While there isn't anything extremely graphic within the story itself, it does, of course, portray his death. Consider yourself warned. Stay safe, friends, and embark on the story of Sasuke's final moments.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I open my eyes to the sound of rain pelting the ground around me. How long have I been lying here, out in the open? How did I get here?</p><p> </p><p>I take a sharp, gravelly inhale and the details come back all at once. An ambush in a civilian town. I ran east, hoping to avoid recognition. They followed…</p><p> </p><p>I can’t believe that after all I’ve done, all I’ve faced and defeated, a group of rogue ninjas could possibly take me down.</p><p> </p><p>I’m trying to assess the damage, but my limbs feel too heavy, too… numb. I can barely blink. The rain feels cool against my skin. This can’t be the end, can it?</p><p> </p><p>There are too many things I haven’t done. Too many things I haven’t said.</p><p> </p><p>‘A shinobi must never show any weakness’</p><p> </p><p>We’re all pitifully human. We have bodies that fail us and minds that harm us. We all have weakness.</p><p> </p><p>Naruto… You and your smug grin. Your boisterous words.  Your inability to give up. Your weakness was always me and mine was always you.</p><p> </p><p>You made me feel love and rivalry in the same breath. You made me soft. You made me weak. I had to escape it. I had a mission, a dream, that I could never put down. You’ll never know how much I yearned to stay in that village, feeling the warm summer breeze blow by as we waited for our assignment, listening to you and Sakura bicker, watching Kakashi stare lazily at the sky. How I wish I could go back and relive those days.</p><p> </p><p>You never did understand why I left, did you? Itachi, my brother, he… I loved him, I respected our family and wanted to live up to their expectations. He killed them all. I found him standing over my parents as they bled out. Every night I dreamed of that time, waking up in a cold sweat. Every morning I woke up with a tightened resolve. Except… Some nights, I didn’t dream. Some mornings, I woke up rested, peaceful. It’s been so long since I’ve had a good night’s rest. Do you think that’s what death will feel like?</p><p> </p><p>I killed him, you know. Itachi. I saw the life drain from his eyes as he slumped to the ground. As I fell to my knees, passing out, I thought that I would die. Do you know what I dreamt of? You, Sakura, Kakashi, and I on one of our missions, laughing and bantering like we did on our good days. I thought ‘this is what Heaven must be like.’ I doubt I’ll be going to Heaven.</p><p> </p><p>The rain seems to be getting warmer. Or, perhaps, I am getting colder. How cold must one be to go into shock? Am I already there? Does it even matter?</p><p> </p><p>I wish that had been the end of it. I wish I would have woken up in the same spot I fell asleep. Maybe then I would have made better choices. Maybe then I could have been in your sunlight one more time.</p><p> </p><p>Are you afraid of death? It never occurred to me before, this concept. The first time I ever thought I’d die, I did it protecting you. Protecting your dream. My only regret was my failure to murder my brother. I wasn’t afraid of the other side because I had no time to be. It’s been the same ever since. Maybe that’s why I’d survived for so long, unwilling to leave this world before I’d finished my goal. But now? Itachi is dead. I’ve never given myself a plan B. I’ve set against the Leaf village. I’ve set against you.  I couldn’t forgive them for what they did, for what they put me through. I couldn’t forgive them for what they did to you, either, Naruto.</p><p> </p><p>Can you forgive me?</p><p> </p><p>You are going to be the last thing on my mind. Isn’t it so fitting? How will you find out about my death? How will you take it? Will you hold a funeral?</p><p> </p><p>Hah. A funeral. I’m in the middle of nowhere with a target on my back, pursued by every major nation. The first person to find me will have my body. Will it be ANBU, where I’ll be examined and then pecked away by crows? Will it be villagers, unaware of who I am, who bury me out of pity?</p><p> </p><p>I don’t know what I’d prefer. I don’t suppose it matters.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Has it stopped raining? My eyes can’t focus, I can’t tell. I wonder if someone will find me like this, half dead, and take me out of my misery. I hear no one.</p><p> </p><p>A man who lived alone will die alone. I can’t think of a better way to go.</p><p> </p><p>I know, I know. You’d scream at me, saying I was never alone. I had you. I had Kakashi. I had Sakura. I had the village. But the truth is… I could never go back there. I could never face you and surrender. I feel a ball of anxiety building in my chest just thinking about such an encounter.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe we will meet again in the next world. Will we recognize each other? Will you be old and gray? Will you be wearing that hokage cloak that you’ve always dreamed of? Will you already be there when I wake up?</p><p> </p><p>I feel myself drifting off, floating through the air like a rustling leaf. I hope that I can see you again. I hope that we can be on the same side. I hope I can fix all the wrong that I’ve done. I hope…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is actually a remake of a remake, the original version dating back to 2011 and the second from 2014 (If anyone is interested I can repost them here, since I've heard that fanfic net can be a pretty sketchy website these days).</p></blockquote></div></div>
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